When 14-year-old Sophia Coronado started playing club soccer this year, she saw an issue with the system and she decided she wanted to do something about it.

The incoming Southside High School freshman realized quickly how expensive it was to play on a club team at a soccer academy, which is a key part of the system in the United States for youth player development.

It was $30 to try out for the team, $90 per month to play, $115 for a uniform, $250 to register with the South Carolina Youth Soccer Association, on top of all the personal equipment costs for things like balls and cleats.

"I think for some people it's just not affordable," Coronado said. "It's just not fair for everybody."

On her team she said she doesn't think there are any players from low-income backgrounds. And Coronado, whose family is from Colombia, also noticed right away that she was the only person of color when she started playing on the team in January.

"I was in a new environment, the first thing I looked at was, 'who looked like me?'" she said.

So in July Coronado launched Equal Juego, an initiative to help make playing the beautiful game more accessible to everyone, regardless of economic status. The Spanglish name means "Equal Game," and she's hoping the result will be just that.

She's set up a GoFundMe page where people can contribute to this goal. All donations will be used to help pay soccer club fees for kids, to donate soccer gear to children from low-income families, to host clinics and tournaments and to build courts for futsal, soccer's faster-paced cousin, played on a smaller, hard court, primarily indoors.

"It's like a dream we're working to achieve," said Luisa Piza, Coronado's mother. "We want to promote (soccer) for all races."

Piza said she was so impressed by her daughter thinking about this issue and her hard work in organizing the Equal Juego initiative this summer.

An early fan of the game from watching matches with her dad, Coronado only recently returned to playing when she joined a club team at United FC in Taylors in January.

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Sophia Coronado, 14, poses on the soccer fields at the Kroc Center in downtown Greenville Thursday, August 2, 2018. Coronado just launched an initiative, called Equal Juego, that is aimed at helping gather soccer gear/supplies and collect donations for kids who can't afford it. (Photo: BART BOATWRIGHT/Staff)

Now she hopes to follow in the footsteps of her favorite three players in legend Leo Messi, U.S. star Carli Loyd and Colombia play-maker Yoreli Rincón, and one day potentially become a professional player as well.

"Sports are supposed to bring everyone together, no matter ho much money you have, no matter where you come from," Coronado said.